Opening up the primariesJust two weeks ago, Republican House Speaker Davy Carter was considered to be a top prospect to replace incumbent Gov. Mike Beebe, a term-limited Democrat. Carter had staked out a centrist position while leading the House on health care expansion, but stayed true to his conservative convictions. With his success and credentials, he appeared to be a prime candidate for higher office. The biggest problem he faced was a Republican primary, where ...

Streets vs. trails: We can have bothDuring the next 10 years, the city of Russellville will receive approximately $500,000 per year from the new half-cent statewide sales tax, sponsored by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) and passed in 2012 by the voters. There is no guarantee on the amount the city will receive, it is strictly dependent upon the statewide sales tax revenue. The city of Russellville, Mayor, Council and Public Works Director has chosen to...

Heading toward a cliff, by the wayImagine that a family is on vacation and driving through unfamiliar territory, which tends to make people uncomfortable, which leads to disagreements. Mom and Dad are in the front seat, arguing — first about where they are, and then, inevitably in this particular family, whose fault it is that they are lost. They’re no longer consulting the map. In fact, Dad’s not even looking at the road. He’s looking at Mom as they both recount all the mista...

Circling the media wagonsWhen will journalists take responsibility for what they do without circling the wagons and shouting that the First Amendment is under attack? I’m talking about the case of Fox News correspondent James Rosen. The case should be described as a State Department contract worker who signed a non-disclosure agreement, yet is alleged to have leaked Top Secret/Special Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) in violation of criminal law. He also is alleged ...

Exchanges downgrade health careIf you live in California and purchase health insurance on the newly created exchange called Covered California, don’t expect care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the prestigous academic hospital in Los Angeles. That top-drawer care won’t be covered by exchange plans. Many Californians will have to give up doctors and hospital they currently use if they want subsidized coverage. That’s one of the truths omitted from last Thursday’s fanfare whe...

AP leaks case shows need for shield lawIf any good comes from the federal government’s high-handed seizure of Associated Press telephone records in a national security leak investigation, it could be new impetus for a federal shield law. The need for such a law has been apparent since at least the 1970s, when prosecutors at every level of government began going after reporters who used confidential sources to develop stories that exposed corruption and incompetence in government. I...

Growing upEditor’s note: Rebecca Soard is a summer intern at The Courier this summer. It’s funny how when you’re little you can’t wait to grow up. As if growing up is something that happens all at once. Like some magic happens the moment you turn 18 and you’re suddenly in possession of all the wisdom and common sense you will ever need. You never realize that you’ve been growing up all along, slowly gaining confidence to step out on your own. It hits me...

Two schools marry while one gets a divorceOn Monday, the State Board of Education agreed to let the 357-student Bradley School District merge voluntarily with the not-that-much-bigger Emerson-Taylor School District. It’s a marriage of convenience, but one both sides are entering voluntarily lest they be forced to do it later. Why does this matter to you? Because it’s yet another sign that the school consolidation that some have wanted to do quickly is instead happening slowly. Accordi...

Government fears intensifiedThe Obama administration is weathering the storm of two Washington scandals — one involving the unfolding details of the attack in Benghazi and the second, revelations that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative groups. Both play into the people’s fears people of an overreaching federal government. Politically, the stories intensify a bias detractors already had regarding the president and those in his inner circle. It is becoming ...

Promise to invest worthy of debateBill Halter may or may not win the Democratic nomination to be the next governor of Arkansas, but the central idea in his campaign should be a subject for major debate in the 2014 gubernatorial election. Halter calls his idea “The Arkansas Promise,” obviously modeled after “The El Dorado Promise” and other programs designed to help young people obtain a college education. The difference is that Halter believes the state should make the guarant...

Story too good to check outOnce again, graduation time is upon us. By some iron rule, every graduation must have a graduation speaker, whose role has been compared to that of the corpse at a great Irish wake: His presence is deemed necessary for the event to be take place, but, other than that, precious little is expected from him. The odds are pretty good that more people could name the U.S.’s last 10 vice presidents* than could tell you who spoke at their own graduati...

Backlash against Common CoreThe national news media haven’t discovered it, but the issue that is bringing out hundreds of citizens who never before attended political meetings is Common Core (CC). More precisely, it is the attempt of Barack Obama’s Department of Education to force all states and schools to adopt specified national education standards for each grade level that will dictate what all kids learn and don’t learn. Common Core means federal control of school cu...

Mother’s Day corsagesIn old photo albums and shoe boxes there are several photos of my mother and her mother wearing corsages on Mother’s Day. Usually they’re standing in front of the lilac bush or the deep purple irises, my mother wearing a red corsage and her mother a white one. I distinctly remember my mother explaining the tradition to me one Sunday morning as we were sitting in the old Church of Christ building on Union Street. Red corsages were worn by women...

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Meredith Martin-MoatsThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

2013 session a huge success for District 73There are always more challenges and new ideas on the horizon, but I think the 89th General Assembly passed some life-changing legislation this year. Working together, we were able to appropriate funding for the Healthcare Independence Act, with a vote of 77-23. More than 250,000 more Arkansans will now have insurance coverage available. We reduced state income taxes for every income tax bracket and for every Arkansan by one tenth, and raised ...

Too much bigger to failI try not to write about things I don’t know much about, and I’ll be the first to admit I understand little about high finance. But I do know this: If something is too big to fail, then it’s too big. That’s a lesson the United States should have learned through the bailouts of the past few years. Unfortunately, it hasn’t. The banks that were too big to fail and had to be bailed out in 2008 have become even bigger now. You remember the bailouts...

Great truths to contemplateFormer British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once said, “I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket, trying to lift himself up by the handle.” Now, I believe you will agree that would be a pretty hard thing to do. Yet, there is a mindset present in our nation today held by people who continually seek to find new and creative ways to collect more money from taxpayers, regardless of the...

Recognizing teachersThis week is Teacher Appreciation Week. According to the Arkansas Department of Education, we currently have 33,282 certified school teachers in Arkansas. Day in and day out, they instruct, care for, discipline, inspire and interact with our children. My wife is a teacher and I know how hard she works to give kids the best of her knowledge, talent and energy. Teaching is an incredibly vital profession that often doesn’t get the appreciation it...

Where is the hope?Employers, physicians, rescue workers, psychiatrists, pastors, child welfare workers, emergency service personnel, hospice staff, etc. universally attest to the power of hope and to the tragic power of despair. Widows and widowers often die soon after the death of their spouse. Travelers lost in dire circumstances, employees trapped in dead end jobs, children who do not know where their next meal is coming from, cancer patients, etc. all seem ...

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Pastor Steve EllisonThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Walking in the spiritGalatians 5:16 states: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh”. What did Paul mean when he said this? The basic idea here is that the Christian life is one defined by the fruit of the Spirit, which fulfills the Law. What Paul is saying is that walking by the spirit requires a closeness to God that only comes through a personal relationship with God. It’s in that relationship that you have the ability...

The art of legislatingLet’s start this column with the kind of quote that usually would appear at the end: “To me that’s the art of legislating,” Key said. “I go into it with what I want, what I think is best, understanding that it’s give and take. I’ve seen examples of an all or nothing approach that, in the end, end in failure.” “Key” is Sen. Johnny Key, R-Mountain Home, and the legislation he’s referring to is The Public School Choice Act of 2013. Passed during ...